RI will revise laws on TRIPs next year
<p>RI will revise laws on TRIPs next year</p><p> JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's ratification of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) calls for it to revise its
laws on property rights, copyrights and trademarks, Minister of
Trade Satrio Budiardjo Joedono said here yesterday.</p><p>"The government will submit three bills on property rights,
copyrights and trademarks to the House of Representatives (DPR)
next year," Joedono said in a hearing with House Commission I
yesterday.</p><p>The hearing was part of the commission's deliberations on the
bill for the ratification of the GATT, which will be administered
by the World Trade Organization (WTO) early next year.</p><p>Yesterday the commission formed a special team to further
deliberate the GATT bill. The team, which is headed by Abu Hasan
Sazili M. of the ruling Golkar faction, will start the
deliberations today.</p><p>The House is expected to ratify the GATT agreement signed in
Marrakesh last April before the summit of the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation in Bogor, West Java, next month.</p><p>Joedono noted that Indonesia still has five years to adjust
its laws on TRIPs (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights) to bring them in line with the GATT principles.</p><p>"However, we want to have them revised earlier," Joedono said.</p><p>The three rulings, which need revision are Law No. 7/1987 on
copyrights, Law No. 6/1989 on patents and Law No. 9/1990 on
designs and trademarks.</p><p>The TRIPs issue has been the concern of developed countries as
they claim that there have been more and more TRIPs violations in
developing countries, such as the copying of trademarks,
cassettes, laser disks and computer programs.</p><p>TRIPs, which are currently handled by the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), will be taken over by the World
Trade Organization (WTO), which is expected to be formed next
year. Under the WTO, TRIPs will refer to the Bern Convention on
copyrights and the Paris Convention on industrial rights.</p><p>Membership</p><p> Indonesia is not a member of the Bern Convention, but a member
of the Paris Convention, although with reservations. A number of
industrial countries, like the United States, European countries
and Australia, have made bilateral agreements on TRIPs with
Indonesia to protect their products from TRIPs violations here.</p><p>Joedono yesterday also noted that if the House ratifies GATT
agreements, Indonesia will lose nothing as there will be no major
changes in the current import tariffs.</p><p>"Our import tariffs are standing at 20 percent across the
board, while our commitment in the GATT is 40 percent. So, there
is no need to cut the import duties from the current levels,"
Joedono said.</p><p>When asked about a study by the World Bank indicating that
Indonesia will lose over one trillion rupiah when GATT agreements
come to affect next year, Joedono said "the study is out of date"
as it was conducted long before the Uruguay Round was signed.</p><p>He argued that Indonesia can even benefit by ratifying GATT
because there will be more chances for Indonesian products to
enter the world market as Industrial countries have made
commitments to cut their import tariffs up to 33 percent. (rid)</p>
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) calls for it to revise its
laws on property rights, copyrights and trademarks, Minister of
Trade Satrio Budiardjo Joedono said here yesterday.</p><p>"The government will submit three bills on property rights,
copyrights and trademarks to the House of Representatives (DPR)
next year," Joedono said in a hearing with House Commission I
yesterday.</p><p>The hearing was part of the commission's deliberations on the
bill for the ratification of the GATT, which will be administered
by the World Trade Organization (WTO) early next year.</p><p>Yesterday the commission formed a special team to further
deliberate the GATT bill. The team, which is headed by Abu Hasan
Sazili M. of the ruling Golkar faction, will start the
deliberations today.</p><p>The House is expected to ratify the GATT agreement signed in
Marrakesh last April before the summit of the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation in Bogor, West Java, next month.</p><p>Joedono noted that Indonesia still has five years to adjust
its laws on TRIPs (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights) to bring them in line with the GATT principles.</p><p>"However, we want to have them revised earlier," Joedono said.</p><p>The three rulings, which need revision are Law No. 7/1987 on
copyrights, Law No. 6/1989 on patents and Law No. 9/1990 on
designs and trademarks.</p><p>The TRIPs issue has been the concern of developed countries as
they claim that there have been more and more TRIPs violations in
developing countries, such as the copying of trademarks,
cassettes, laser disks and computer programs.</p><p>TRIPs, which are currently handled by the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), will be taken over by the World
Trade Organization (WTO), which is expected to be formed next
year. Under the WTO, TRIPs will refer to the Bern Convention on
copyrights and the Paris Convention on industrial rights.</p><p>Membership</p><p> Indonesia is not a member of the Bern Convention, but a member
of the Paris Convention, although with reservations. A number of
industrial countries, like the United States, European countries
and Australia, have made bilateral agreements on TRIPs with
Indonesia to protect their products from TRIPs violations here.</p><p>Joedono yesterday also noted that if the House ratifies GATT
agreements, Indonesia will lose nothing as there will be no major
changes in the current import tariffs.</p><p>"Our import tariffs are standing at 20 percent across the
board, while our commitment in the GATT is 40 percent. So, there
is no need to cut the import duties from the current levels,"
Joedono said.</p><p>When asked about a study by the World Bank indicating that
Indonesia will lose over one trillion rupiah when GATT agreements
come to affect next year, Joedono said "the study is out of date"
as it was conducted long before the Uruguay Round was signed.</p><p>He argued that Indonesia can even benefit by ratifying GATT
because there will be more chances for Indonesian products to
enter the world market as Industrial countries have made
commitments to cut their import tariffs up to 33 percent. (rid)</p>